The Gift In You
by April1
Summary: R/T: A short piece branching off of "When Snow Falls."


Summary: This is a short piece branching off from the end of "When Snow Falls," occurring around a year later.

Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy it. :) Again, thanks to everyone who has sent me feedback/reviews. It is greatly appreciated. 

  
_Around a year later..._

Rory hopped precariously on one foot as she tried to tug on one of her flip-flops, holding the phone up to her ear with her free hand. "Are you sure everything's ready?" 

Lorelai's voice crackled through the static on her cell phone. "You are such a worry wart. Mission control, we are go." Another voice drifted over the phone line, mingling with Lorelai's. "Would you tell her to keep that thing away from me?" 

Rory pulled back the curtain on the window, scanning the street in front of her house. "Mom, is something wrong?" 

"No, it's just Luke, Miss Patty, and a feather boa." 

Rory laughed at the mental picture her mother's words created. "No further explanation needed, though I am surprised Luke's there." 

"Oh, I just threatened that I would wallpaper blue and pink fluffy bunnies all over the diner. He didn't stand a chance, so he gave in," Lorelai replied, unable to keep the triumph from creeping into her voice.

"You're getting pretty good at the whole persuasion thing."

"Yes, but enough talk about how superior I am. Is Mr. Hot Lips there yet?" 

"Mom, please... and no, he isn't here yet." 

"Okay, okay. I'll behave. Do you have the keys to the jeep?" 

Rory picked up the keys and noisily jingled them near the phone. "Got them."

Lorelai nodded exuberantly even though Rory couldn't see her. "Then everything is now up to you my dear." 

"Wish me luck." 

"I would, but you won't need it. That boy worships the ground you walk on." 

Rory clicked the phone off and began pacing in the hallway, her flip-flops slapping against her heels. When she heard the car door slam in front of her house, she scurried over to the front door and flung it open. 

"Not eager to see me, are you Rory?" Tristan was strolling up the walkway, wearing khaki cargo shorts and a navy short-sleeved polo shirt that accentuated his broad shoulders and his strong, muscular arms. 

Rory leaned against the door frame and shrugged nonchalantly, feigning disinterest. "As a matter of fact, I'm not eager in the least." 

"Well, we're just going to have to change that then." Tristan walked slowly up the steps to her house and followed her inside. 

Rory turned around and shut the door behind them. She drew in a sharp breath as Tristan lifted her hair gently off her back, trailing kisses down her neck. In a dream-like state, she turned so she was facing him. Since she had know him, Rory had always thought of his movements as being akin to a panther's, confident, and not a bit cautious. The way Tristan was studying her now with a look of complete adoration on his face, the sensuality just oozed from him. They had been dating for a year, and still a simple look from him took her breath away and had her stomach participating in a series of gymnastic sized leaps.

Tristan leaned forward, capturing her lips with his. Rory responded, joining him in a world that was all their own. As his mouth coaxed and caressed hers, she fisted her hands in the soft material of his shirt as if holding on for dear life. In a way she was, for each time she was with him, she fell faster and harder than the first time. After a few moments, Tristan pulled away, his breath coming in short gasps as he fought to gain control. He brushed his lips over her closed eyelids, finding it hard to believe that this precious creature in front of him was truly his. As Rory's eyes fluttered open, he kissed her nose playfully. "Being this close to you drives me crazy, you know that?" Tristan said, his voice hoarse with emotion. 

"Then maybe we both need to be locked up," Rory replied with mock seriousness, while running her finger over the white puka shell choker he always wore at the base of his throat. 

The right corner of his mouth turned up in a lopsided grin. "You and me locked in a room together? Oh, the possibilities." He ran his hand through her smoother than silk hair, letting a strand curl around one of his fingers.

Rory blushed, then quickly looked down at her feet. "Mr. Dugray, are you trying to corrupt me?" 

"Yes," Tristan whispered huskily, cupping her delicate face in his hands. 

After another mind numbing kiss, Rory stepped back reluctantly, finally remembering what she was supposed to be doing. "As much as I love our special moments, we need to leave or we're going to be late." 

"Late to where?" 

"I know you're just fishing for information, but my lips are sealed." Rory led him out of the house and headed toward the jeep, tilting her face up to the light radiating from the sun.

Tristan slid his arm around her waist, nestling his cheek against the top of her head. "I think I have ways of making you talk." 

"I'm not so sure about that," Rory replied, knowing that his touch tended to make her speechless rather than initiate her usual habit of babbling. She climbed into the jeep and after Tristan settled into the seat beside of her, she pulled out a long strip of dark blue cloth. She held it up, swinging it in front of his face. "You have to wear this blindfold." 

"A blindfold? Rory, I didn't think you were that kind of girl." Tristan winked at her, a devilish gleam in his eyes. 

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not." She motioned for him to turn around, placing the cloth over his eyes. 

"Why exactly am I wearing this?"

"You'll see." She tied the blindfold tightly at the back of his head, smoothing his blond tendrils of hair that had ruffled up from the cloth. Rory started the jeep and headed in the direction of their destination. Glancing over at him, she had to hold back an amused chuckle. Tristan's jaw was clenched slightly, and he was drumming the fingers of his right hand nervously on his knee. His other hand was resting lightly on top of Rory's, and occasionally he would massage her palm with his thumb. Driving with one hand was a little awkward, but she wasn't about to put an end to the pleasant sensations that were coursing from her hand through the rest of her body. 

"Can't you at least give me a hint about where we're going?" 

Rory couldn't help but laugh at the pleading tone in his voice. Tristan always was one who liked to know what was going on around him, and this element of surprise was driving him insane. "Well, we're here, so I think you can wait a few more minutes to find out." 

"That didn't take long. So we must be somewhere in Stars Hollow... right?" 

Rory didn't respond. Instead, she hopped out of the jeep and surveyed the park spread out in front of her. Smiling secretly to herself, she slipped off her flip-flops, sinking her feet into the sun-warmed grass that tickled her toes. Every so often, a gust of the cool wind sent a shower of cherry blossoms raining down through the air from the trees overhead. Rory took a deep breath and took in the fresh, sweet smell of a New England spring.

"Uh, Rory? It's going to be kind of hard for me to get out of here, considering the fact that I can't see." 

Rory hurried around to the passenger side of the jeep, taking Tristan's hand to help him out of the vehicle. "Tristan, this has been something I've been wanting to do for you for a while now, and finally I have the opportunity. And with you, opportunities are something that I've learned to take advantage of." He bent his head, enabling her to remove the blindfold. She untied it, allowing him to take in the sight ahead of them. Tristan's eyes widened as he drank in the scene, and Rory's heart skipped a beat at the look of pure amazement on his face.

"Rory, you... how did you..." he managed to stammer. 

"Happy Birthday, Tristan," she whispered softly, clasping her fingers through his and squeezing his hand tightly. 

Tristan's chest ached with emotion as he gazed from his girlfriend and then back to the area across a small clearing. Streamers alternately unfurled and curled as the wind blew them on the tree branches from which they were draped. Underneath a banner proclaiming birthday wishes, a group of people, both familiar and unfamiliar, were setting out food or just laughing and talking with one another. Miss Patty was there, and the wind kept flicking her feather boa over her shoulder, and in turn she flipped it back. Luke, who was fussing over the cake, kept getting hit in the face with the infernal bunch of feathers. Lane caught sight of the two teenagers and waved wildly, practically jumping up and down in excitement. There were others there who Tristan didn't recognize, but Lorelai stood in the center of all the commotion, a party hat sitting perkily atop her mass of curls. Tristan turned back to Rory, taking in her pleased smile, an affectionate expression on her face. "But how did you know today was my birthday? I never said anything."

"I have my ways." 

Tristan wrapped his arms around her, holding her body tightly to his. He closed his eyes, absorbing the waves of feelings flooding over and through his senses. It was almost as if he was losing himself in her, and there was no turning back. It was a feeling that he had long ago accepted, and one he had now come to cherish. He pulled back, tenderly brushing away a blossom that had fallen into Rory's hair. "Just when I think I couldn't possibly love you anymore than I already do, you go and do something like this."

Rory's lips grazed his cheek, and she took his hand in hers. "I had to do something special for you, Tristan. You have given me so much, more than you could ever know. Now, come on. There are presents too!" She started off, but stopped short when she felt him tug on her hand. She turned back around to face Tristan, noticing that his normally crystal clear blue eyes were covered in a clouded tumult of emotions. 

Tristan took both of her hands, holding them between his own. She was so wonderful, so thoughtful. She was everything, and he couldn't help but be afraid that one day someone would take her away from him. He had already lost the one person who had truly cared about him. What if he lost the one person who meant more to him than anything else in the world? 

Rory looked up at Tristan, seeing a rare twinge of vulnerability in his eyes. The only other time she had seen it had been when he had been telling her about his grandmother passing away. "Is everything okay?" 

"No, I really don't think so." Tristan took a deep breath, knowing that he had to trust her and put his faith in the relationship that they had formed together. "It frightens me, Rory. I have never felt this way about anyone else before, and I'm afraid of losing that... of losing you. It has taken us so long to get to this point, and I never made it easy for you. I was so absorbed in myself and my own actions, I never considered your feelings. I still can't help but think that I don't really deserve you, or wonder how did I get so lucky to even have you give me a second glance, let alone want to be with me. And I can't help but think that someday someone who is better for you will come along..." 

She twined her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his downy soft hair. "You won't lose me."

"What we have is so precious, so special to me. I just want that to last." 

"It will last. I promise."

"You can't..." 

"I can, and I'll tell you why." She traced Tristan's cheek with her finger, gazing deeply into those eyes she had come to know so well. "When you kiss me," she said, leaning forward and pressing her lips lightly to his, "my hands still tingle." A smile slowly curved on his lips as he remembered their conversation from over a year ago. He started to open his mouth to speak, but Rory shushed him. "I'm not finished yet. On that snowy day, something changed between us. Something changed in me, Tristan. I saw a part of you that you had kept hidden away, a part I also refused to see. You opened up to me, and I let you into my heart. Since then, you have never left it. You have made me experience such a range of emotions that I didn't even know I was capable of. When I met you, all I felt like doing was punching you, and at the time I hated to admit it, but you kept me on my toes. I was completely intrigued by you. Gradually, those feelings that I had for you became something more. They became more than I would have ever thought possible. I know what we have is true, because I love you, Tristan." 

Tristan caressed her face with his hand, his heart beat catapulting out of control at her words. Of course, they had made known their feelings for each other before, but never in a way that was so heartfelt and that came from deep within their souls. He gently lifted up her chin so she was looking into his eyes. "I love you too, Rory," he whispered before meeting her lips in a slow, delicate kiss that reached down deep into both of their hearts and didn't let go. 

"Come on you two! Let's get this party started!" Lorelai's voice rang out over the clearing. 

Tristan and Rory broke apart, only having eyes for each other. Tristan lifted her hand to his lips, placing a kiss on her palm. She once again linked her fingers through his, symbolizing an unbreakable bond between the two of them. They headed across the clearing, laughing as more cherry blossoms showered down on them, creating a wave of color. Waiting for them on the other side was a group of people anxious to embrace the young man who had come to mean so much to their Rory. 


End file.
